Our second Solution Salon 3/14/09

[Janna Besh]

3/14/09 was a freezing cold blustery day. The weather was not condusive to an outdoor meeting. So we met indoors. We served vegetable soup and hot tea. Although we are certain the weather dissuaded many people from attending, we had a solid group of caring individuals that did attend. We did not have any musicians or other entertainment , but this is a work in progress and we expect this to change. We provided information on going Green and had printed information for people to read up on from the Valcore Recycling Center, Environmental Education for children from Vallejo Garbage Service, Josh Dorfman's Guide to " Green -overs", Solar Electric Systems from BP solar, and the 30% Federal tax credit available for homeowners ( which is a program to make going solar much more affordable to homeowners), Information on the school budget cuts, and the schools Breakfast Club which is a program Assisting Low Income, Inner City Students with the right start, and information on HIV / Aids. We are doing a membership drive,$12.50 suggested donation per family. And my family wore silly tee-shirts which we will be offering for fundraising as well, for $25.00 which read " Ask Me About My Green Movement solano green alliance. We will also offer a more serious tee-shirt that have our Motto , which is: Be The Change Go Green ! solano green alliance also for $25.00 In our discussions, we talked about using locally grown/produced foods why that's important. We talked about the environment, and going green, what it all means and why this is important. Many issues were discussed : 1) Job training 2) Programs to assist you get jobs 3) How to assist people who have felonies, to get the felonies reduced to a lesser charge, and when reduced to a misdemeanor, can be expunged from their records, so past mistakes do not wreck their futures 4) Programs to assist people to achieve getting their GEDs 5) People with felonies that have paid restitution being able to get employment to support their families( esp. after ten years!) 6) people with disabilities being allowed to work. 7) And Racial disparity in employment. We had activities for the children. We have a large trampoline. And they also enjoyed the game " Hunt for Change", where we hid coins wrapped in green tissue paper in the garden. Each child won a prize and received a round of applause. An article came out about this in the Times Herald newspaper today! Hopefully we will see a bigger crowd next week. The next Solution Salon will be 3/21/09 from 12:00 to 3:00. Hope to see you there! ps turn off the lights! recycle! And Go Green!

[Janna Besh]

The County has a few programs to help people with convictions : If you are on Parole you call your Parole officer and ask for an assessment, and they can help. And locally Solano County just had Clean Slate day on 3/14/09 which was hosted by Legal Services of Northern California [phone] And a Class titled Need A Job But Have A Conviction is offered to residents through May, call Linda Perry at [phone] We also have a program in our local Library called lawyer in the Library for brief legal advice and referral call 1-866-572-7587 for more information.